The “attacks” of jellyfish on French nuclear power plants near the English Channel continue. This time they scored against the Paluel NPP.
“A flock of jellyfish reduced the capacity of the Paluel nuclear power plant by 2.4 gigawatts after entering the filters of the pumping station. This is the second time in a month that jellyfish have affected the operation of a power plant,” Reuters reports, citing the operator EDF.
Production at the Paluel NPP decreased by almost half on Wednesday evening after the shutdown of the fourth reactor and a preventive reduction in the capacity of the third reactor, EDF explained.
Water from the English Channel enters the station and cools it.
Due to the warming, both local and invasive jellyfish are multiplying, and this has led to a dramatic increase in the number of jellyfish.
“Reactor No. 1 of the Paluel NPP is operating at full capacity, and reactor No. 2 is currently shut down for maintenance,” the Reuters news agency added.
In mid-August, EDF had already shut down reactors at the Graveline nuclear power plant, which had also experienced the intrusion of a “huge and unpredictable” swarm of jellyfish into its cooling systems.
Scientists warn that such events may become more frequent due to factors such as global warming, the emergence of invasive marine species, loss of habitat to predators and overfishing.
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